Throughout the 1930s, Fascism seemed to be  on the rise, democracy seemed to be on the wane.

The latter was especially true in Great Britain and France.   

World War 1 had left Europe devastated and disillusioned. Britain had lost 880,000 men, which amounted to six percent of the adult male population.

For France, the losses were worse: About six million, including 1.4 million dead and 4.2 million wounded. This amounted to roughly 71 percent of those who had fought.

The Cenotaph, in London, honoring the unknown British dead of World War 1

Nazi Germany, by contrast, seemed robust and purposeful, not just waiting for the future but creating the future it desired: “Volk” festivals, party rallies, awards, uniforms, pageantry were everywhere—climaxed by the country’s hosting of the 1936 Olympics. 

In foreign affairs Germany proved equally on the march: First retaking the demilitarized Rhineland between itself and France (1936); then annexing Austria (1938); then Czechoslovakia (1938).

Today, many Right-wing Americans believe that democracy no longer serves their needs—or even ensures their survival. They have turned to authoritarianism—rule by a strongman who demands strict obedience at the expense of personal freedom.

And the strongman they are rallying behind—for now—is Donald Trump.

In the 2023 novel, The Mitford Affair, by Marie Benedict, Sydney Bowles, the matriarch of the aristocratic Mitford family, cheers for a Nazi victory over Great Britain: “We must not win this war….What will become of your sisters if Great Britain wins?

“I mean, Diana and [her husband, Oswald] Mosley are here in England, but they’ve publicly aligned themselves with fascism generally and [Adolf] Hitler specifically. We must follow their lead and do all we can to make sure the right thing happens. And Unity—“

This is a reference to Unity Valkyrie Mitford, the sister who has spent five years in Germany hoping to seduce its Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler into becoming her own. 

Nancy Mitford, Sydney’s daughter, is appalled: “Not only is she placing the needs of her two favorite children above the rest…but she’s putting them above what’s best for the entire nation. And urging me to commit treason—like her and my sisters apparently—in the process.”

During a visit to Diana’s home, Nancy is further outraged by a series of silver-framed photos of her sisters taken during their visits to Nazi Germany: “I am barraged by pictures of Diana and Unity with Hitler, [Joseph] Goebbels and decorated Nazi officers.…

Unity and Diana Mitford posing with SS soldiers

“There are my sisters giving the Nazi salute, smiling against a backdrop of soldiers, and even sharing a meal with the Nazi leaders.”

A warning from her cousin, Winston Churchill, the future prime minister, finally leads her to betray Diana’s plans to set up a pro-Fascist radio station to aid Nazi Germany:  

“Imagine what damage a radio station in enemy hands broadcasting across England could do—creating easy communication between the enemy within and the enemy without, as well as sending out propaganda and false information to the British people.”

Today, in the United States, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s role in placing Donald Trump in the White House is well-known. So are Trump’s sympathies with Putin. And so are those of many Republicans—such as the two men who showed up at a Trump rally in 2018 wearing: “I’d Rather Be Russian Than Democrat” T-shirts.

Repeatedly, Trump has made clear his antagonism toward NATO, the 74-year alliance between the United States and Europe that has contained Russian aggression.

Yet while Trump has viciously attacked the patriotism of Democrats generally and President Joseph Biden in particular, Democrats have been unwilling to directly call Trump a traitor.

Trump has called those arrested for violently trying to overturn the 2020 Presidential election “hostages” and “patriots.” He’s also predicted “a bloodbath” if he’s not re-elected in 2024.

It’s past time for the Biden administration to borrow a lesson from England: After Hitler launched his invasion of France, Churchill unleashed Defense Regulation 18B. This gave the government the power to detain anyone deemed a threat to the nation’s safety or subject to foreign influence.

No formal charges or a trial was necessary. 

Marie Benedict ends her novel on a warning note for Americans: Fascists don’t change. 

After being imprisoned separately, Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists [BUF] and his wife, Diana, are allowed to be confined together. Witnessing their prison reunion is Diana’s sister, Nancy.

“It’s really me, my darling. And we will never be parted again,” says Mosley.

“Never,” says Diana, with a fierceness that shocks Nancy, who thinks:

“I watch as my sister bestows upon her husband a wide, knowing, secret smile, and it is clear she remains entirely in his sway, just as I believe Unity was under Hitler’s.…

“I know with utter certainty that Diana could sacrifice everything—country, family, her own life—for this man and his cause.” 

Similarly, there is literally no crime that Trump-–and his fanatical followers—are not willing to commit to establish a Right-wing dictatorship.

Like Winston Churchill, President Biden needs to order the Justice Department to take drastic action—now—to prevent this from happening.